01926nas a2200193 4500008004100000245009400041210006900135520130600204653001401510653001701524653002101541653002001562653002101582653001801603653001701621100002901638700002401667856004101691 2019 eng d00aHow Early Do Birds Start Chirping? Dawn Chorus Onset and Peak Times in a Neotropical City0 aHow Early Do Birds Start Chirping Dawn Chorus Onset and Peak Tim3 a

Urbanisation poses important challenges for animal communication. Avian dawn choruses are a prominent component of urban soundscapes and have received attention in recent urban ecology studies. Current evidence based on comparisons of urban and non-urban sites suggest that urbanisation is associated with earlier dawn chorus singing activity. However, this phenomenon remains mainly unexplored in tropical cities. We here assessed dawn chorus onset and peak times in two contrasting conditions of the urbanisation intensity gradient (i.e., intra-urban and peri-urban forested areas) of a Neotropical city, Xalapa in Mexico, assessing relationships with noise at sunrise and artificial light at night. We found no differences in dawn chorus onset or singing peak times when contrasting intra- and peri-urban areas. However, we found non-significant trends for earlier chorus onsets and peak times with increasing noise levels. Our results show no relationship between artificial light at night and dawn chorus timing, adding evidence to recent studies showing that light pollution does not seem to be determinant in the dawn choruses of tropical birds. Further research is needed to include a wider array of urbanisation conditions and drivers of the singing routines of urban tropical birds.

10abehaviour10abioacoustics10abird assemblages10amorning singing10aperi-urban areas10aUrban ecology10aurbanisation1 aMarín-Gómez, Oscar, H.1 aMacGregor-Fors, Ian uhttps://bio.acousti.ca/de/node/5839502406nas a2200193 4500008004100000245011900041210006900160520176100229653003401990653001702024653001402041653001702055653001702072100002102089700002302110700003002133700002202163856002702185 2019 eng d00aVocal Response of Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis) to Urban Environmental Factors in Peninsular Malaysia0 aVocal Response of Oriental Magpie Robin Copsychus saularis to Ur3 a

Anthropogenic noise and changes in environmental gradients resulted from urbanisation have been shown to alter vocalisation of urban birds in previous studies. This study examined the vocalisation of the Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis; locally known as Murai Kampung) in relation to anthropogenic noise and environmental factors in the urban, suburban and rural areas in Peninsular Malaysia. We measured four ambient factors (i.e. ambient noise, temperature, relative humidity and light intensity) and two landscape factors (i.e. distance to building and distance to major roads) between January and June 2017 from six locations. A total of 147 recordings comprising territorial songs of the bird were obtained and transcribed into spectrograms. Six parameters, namely low frequency, high frequency, frequency ranges, length of strophe, number of elements per strophe, and time interval between strophes were derived from spectrograms for each recording. In urban areas, low frequency of the songs was found to have increased significantly as compared to those recorded in suburban and rural areas. The difference in noise, temperature and relative humidity in urban and suburban environment had led to both single and interaction effects towards the Oriental Magpie Robin’s song parameters, i.e. low frequency, length of strophe, time interval between strophes and number of elements per strophe. The results evidenced the ability of the Oriental Magpie Robin in regulating and altering their song structure according to its surrounding environment. This implies its vocal plasticity which is important in ensuring the efficiency in transmission of songs and is likely to explain why the bird is less susceptible to urbanisation.

10aAmbient and landscape factors10abird species10afrequency10aurbanisation10avocalisation1 aHanafi, Shafinaz1 aChong, Leong, Puan1 aMaruthaveeran, Sreetheran1 aYeong, Kok, Loong uhttp://www.ukm.my/jsm/02516nas a2200217 4500008004100000245010300041210006900144260001600213490000700229520180700236653002502043653002402068653001302092653001402105653002202119653001802141653001702159100002502176700002402201856007302225 2019 eng d00aHabitat-related differences in song structure and complexity in a songbird with a large repertoire0 aHabitatrelated differences in song structure and complexity in a cJan-12-20190 v193 a

Background

Urbanisation has been shown to influence many aspects of animal vocal communication. Much attention has been paid to anthropogenic noise, which is often described as one of the most challenging disturbances for urban dwellers. While a large body of literature describes associations between vocal behavior of avian populations and background noise level, most of these studies were conducted on species with relatively simple songs and small repertoire sizes. This study focuses on the song thrush, Turdus philomelos, a common Eurasian songbird with a complex singing style and large syllable repertoire. Our objective was to determine whether frequency, repertoire and temporal organisation of song parameters vary between birds inhabiting urban and adjacent forest habitats in which ambient noise levels differ.

Results

Songs of urban males were found to be more complex than in conspecifics from natural forest populations. Urban dwellers possessed greater syllable repertoires and repeated syllable sequences more often. In addition, they used a smaller proportion of whistles and a higher proportion of twitter syllables when singing compared to the nonurban males. Moreover, we found significant differences in the minimum and peak frequency of the whistle syllable between studied populations.

Conclusions

These findings may be an example of adaptation of acoustic communication in noisy urban environments, but we also discuss other possible explanations. We emphasize the need for further investigation into the relationships between birdsong and habitat characteristics, male quality, population density and ambient noise level in populations occupying urban and nonurban habitats.

10aanimal communication10aanthropogenic noise10abirdsong10asongbirds10aTurdus philomelos10aUrban ecology10aurbanisation1 aDeoniziak, Krzysztof1 aOsiejuk, Tomasz, S. uhttps://bmcecol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12898-019-0255-702231nas a2200205 4500008004100000022001400041245015300055210006900208260001600277520149400293653001601787653001701803653003001820653003201850653001701882100002801899700002701927700001601954856005501970 2017 eng d a1083-815500aHabitat- and matrix-related differences in species diversity and trait richness of vascular plants, Orthoptera and Lepidoptera in an urban landscape0 aHabitat and matrixrelated differences in species diversity and t cJan-04-20183 aUrban growth is considered to be a major driver of environmental change. Urbanisation can affect urban biodiversity in different ways. So far, most studies focused on the impact of urbanisation on single taxa in one habitat type. In this study, we used data of species inventories and GIS-based landscape elements to examine the effects of habitat size and landscape composition on the species diversity of three taxonomic groups (vascular plants, Orthoptera and Lepidoptera) in meadows and ruderal sites in the urban region of Basel, Switzerland. We also related the responses of three species traits (body size, dispersal ability and food specialisation) to habitat size in Orthoptera and Lepidoptera. We found that species of the different taxonomic groups differed in their response to habitat size and landscape composition both in meadows and ruderal sites depending on the traits examined. The species richness of Orthoptera and Lepidoptera was positively related to meadow size but not to the size of ruderal sites, while the opposite was true for plants. For Lepidoptera in ruderal sites, the percentage cover of ruderal area in the closer surroundings was a better predictor of species richness than habitat size per se. To sustain high levels of urban biodiversity, we recommend that urban planners develop adequate management strategies to satisfy the different requirements of various taxonomic groups and to increase the quality of green sites surrounding the target habitat.10aButterflies10agrasshoppers10aplant functional richness10aspecies–area relationship10aurbanisation1 aMelliger, Ramona, Laila1 aRusterholz, Hans-Peter1 aBaur, Bruno uhttp://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11252-017-0662-5